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Kallee Kerestes

Brother Griffin

English 301

29 November 2018

Co-existing Without Equality

Inequality has been a fighting issue throughout many topics over the years and all

throughout the country. One of today’s major issues is unequal pay and opportunity for women in

the workforce. As it has improved greatly from the past there is still a gap between men and

women’s wages. Men are also more likely to receive higher opportunities in companies and have

an easier time moving up within the business. It is time to bring that gap to a close and offer

equal pay and opportunity to women.

When someone is paid less based on their gender it is a form of sex discrimination and is

against the law, yet it is still happening daily. According to Lahle Wolfe from

thebalancecareers.com “Today, on average, a woman earns 80.5 cents for every dollar a man

earns, and women's median annual earnings are $10,086 less than men's, according to data from

the 2017 U.S. Census Bureau.” Do to this gap in pay it is causing women to have to work more

hours and days in order to make up for the lower earnings. Wolfe states a statistic in her article

that says women have to work an additional 44 days on average to meet the equal earnings as

men. While the gap has continued to decrease as time has gone on but with the rate that it is

going now, we won’t reach equality for several years.

In the article The Simple Truth about the Gender Pay Gap from AAUW says “The gender

pay gap is the result of many factors, including occupational segregation, bias against working

mothers, and direct pay discrimination. Additionally, such things as racial bias, disability, access
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to education, and age come into play. Consequently, different groups of women experience very

different gaps in pay.” Discrimination continues within the gender gap as these women are also

discriminated based on their race and age on top of their gender. Hispanic women are paid the

least amount compared to the other ethnicities. The wages gaps are biggest in male dominated

career fields and men’s salaries in those fields are larger than those in female dominated areas.

Women are turned down many times for higher positions in companies based on their

gender. Nick Ismail a writer for Information Age says, “In a list of 1000 CEOs, only 54 were

women.” That number has increased by three just recently but is still a small number of women

compared to men. Business Insider did a study on from Lean In and McKinsey and found out

exactly how much more likely men are to get promoted than women and they said, “Across all

organizational levels, the study found that women are a whopping 15% less likely than men to

get promoted.”

The question I have always asked is why? Why are women being paid less than men and

not having the same opportunities as them? What makes them any better or more deserving than

women? I have always heard the same answers such as they are less qualified, can’t focus on just

work, too emotional, their performance, they have children or at home responsibilities that take

their priority, they’re weak or don’t have the work force skills needed. While some of these may

be true for some circumstances, they shouldn’t base one situation on all women and still give

women the chance for equal opportunities as men to prove themselves and show their skills.

When someone can do the same job at the same quality or even better, they shouldn’t be

receiving less pay than someone else that does the same thing just because of their gender

difference.
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Women make up almost half of the workforce today. They often are the sole supporters of

their family. While they are making less than men, they are having to work longer hours and

more days in order to make up for their loses. With having to work more time to make up for the

unequal pay they are spending less time at home with their kids if they have them and can cause

more stress on her and those at her home.

This issue is affecting women all over the country today. It is affecting their future and

their present situations. It is causing many of them to have to work longer hours and more days

just to make enough to support themselves or their families. Due to the wage gap women are also

looked down upon in work environments so they tend to have a harder time getting other co-

workers to see them as equals or take them seriously. They are also often over looked for the

skills that they have that could benefit the company. It is even preventing them from moving up

in their field and progressing their careers.

It is even affecting younger women today. It is turning away female college students from

studying anything that isn’t female dominated because they know they could have that possibility

of facing these issues more in male dominated majors. After talking to two female

communication majors who plan to enter the business world soon, they shared their fears of

being put down just because of their gender. Laila West said, “I have not had any of these issues

from my past work experiences, but I know that with the work field I am entering now that I will

probably be discriminated based on my gender.” Paige Wicks also says, “I have seen it before

and I know it is a current issue we female’s sadly face.”

I have seen these issues in a firsthand account as a female gymnastics coach. After doing

gymnastics for nine years and having previous coaching experience I was still paid less than the

new male hire who had no experience in the gymnastics field. Later that year I applied for a
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higher position in the company and was turned down for it after because they wanted to give it to

that new male hire. When asked why I wasn’t given the job I was told it was because I was a girl

and they needed someone less emotional and stronger in order to spot the gymnast. While

clearly, I had much more experience and would have been the better choice I was turned down

based on my gender and the assumptions that come with being a female.

Some would like to say I didn’t receive that job because I couldn’t lift or spot the

gymnasts like a man could. Women can just be as strong as men and sometimes even stronger.

Women today are taking up CrossFit, weight training, running marathons and many more male

dominated athletic activities and growing stronger every day. I work out everyday to be able to

stay healthy and spot the gymnast within my career. I have never struggled lifting or spotting the

gymnast I coached, and never did I need a man to help me with what I was doing. The stereotype

that women are weaker was what prevented me from getting that job. I was never asked if I

could or couldn’t do it nor was, I given the chance to show that I was capable of spotting the

gymnast just as he could.

Many assumptions made about women and how they deserve less pay and opportunities

in the workforce are based upon the stereotype of woman that society has created, and the past

cultures and society beliefs for women. In the past women were forced to stay home and be

home makers. Their only job was to care for the children and take care of the home. Women

were always seen as property or less than men. They were not allowed to hold jobs, own

anything or do much on their own. As time went on, they were given more equal opportunities

and were able to finally hold jobs, own things and think for themselves but were always treated

unfairly and paid less than men.

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The past created the idea that women are under men and never equals. After hundreds of

years of this inequality it continues today and hasn’t been completely abolished. While it has

improved greatly there is still room for improvement. The past created stereotypes for women

that get judged daily by them. Women get judged daily with their life choices. Whether they

decide to stay at home mom or follow their careers they get lash back.

The stereotype for women is that they are weaker, helpless, emotional and not as smart.

Due to this stereotype people tend to base all of their assumptions for every woman on these

qualities even if they don’t mean too. This stereotype cannot apply to every woman. I have met

many women who are the strongest people emotionally and physically that I have ever met. All

women should be given the chance to show their qualities and talents rather than being judged

off of a stereotype and the past.

Women have many qualities that are over looked that can benefit leadership positions and

companies. Glenn Llopis from Forbes.com says “These women are master multi-taskers and

highly collaborative (though not afraid to get territorial to protect their domain).” Having the

skills to multitask can benefit companies and leadership positions by being able to get more

things done at once and at a faster pace. Many women work full time and have a family to care

for at home making them incredible multitaskers and great at managing time. With all these

things that so many women have to do on a daily basis in their lives they are getting more done

and being more productive than a lot of men do in a day. The International Monetary Fund found

that adding more women into senior management roles or on corporate boards can directly boost

a company's return on assets.

Women can also be very opportunity-driven, strategic and see things that others might

have surpassed, and they can be very passionate. Women offer so many great qualities into the
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work force and deserve equal opportunity and pay. Being able to see things in a different way

can be a great positive aspect for many companies. It could open new opportunities and doors for

companies. Women can use these qualities to lead others and motivate them to gain or develop

the same qualities.

Many people believe women shouldn’t have equal pay or opportunity as men in the work

field because of their outside of work responsibilities which cause them to not be fully focused

on work. Women have the opportunity to bring children into this world and when a woman gets

pregnant that could be a problem for a company. The issues such as having to give her maternity

leave or having to worry about if she will be fully focused and dedicated to work. Sometimes she

might have to leave work early because her child is sick at school or can’t come into work

because her child doesn’t have school that day.

Many times, after a woman has a baby and tries to come back to work, they might get

penalized by being less likely to hire or rehire them. They also might cut her pay and hours.

Women without children tend to get paid more than those that do have children. Fathers are not

punished like the women are. It is unfair to penalize a woman for having children. In many cases

it makes the women not want to have kids if it means ruining or preventing them from

progressing.

There is also the idea that women don’t work as hard as men. Due to their outside of

work responsibilities they work less in their work environment. Bryce Covert from Think

Progress says “Men, by and large, make more because of some of the things they do. Their jobs

are, by and large, riskier, they don’t mind working nights and weekends, they don’t mind

working overtime or outdoors.” Men tend to not have as many outsides of work responsibilities,

so they have the opportunity and time to solely focus on work.

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Just because women sometimes have many other things to focus on outside of work

doesn’t mean they don’t work as hard at work. While many women would rather not work

outside or over night and on the weekends that doesn’t mean all women are like that. The women

that can’t work on the weekends or overnight usually have children to care for. Women can be

some of the hardest workers in a company. They can be highly motivated and work great under

stress getting things done in a timely matter.

There are many incredible women in the workforce today. Mary T. Barra is the chairman

and chief executive officer of the General Motors Company. Barra graduated from Kettering

University with a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering in 1985. The General

Motors website says, “Under Barra’s leadership, GM envisions a world with zero crashes, to

save lives; zero emissions, so future generations can inherit a healthier planet; and zero

congestion, so customers get back a precious commodity – time.” Barra became General Motors

first female CEO and first woman to lead an automotive making company. She is also one of the

females on the list of Fortune 500. General Motors was named number one out of many

companies throughout the world for its ability to achieve gender equality. Barra worked hard to

get where she was and learned to speak up and stop saying sorry.

There are many incredible women like Barra in the world today who can lead companies

and people to great things. While many women might not have the chance or opportunity to run

big companies, they can still have an incredible impact in the workforce. Having many bosses in

past jobs I have experienced many good ones, great ones and ones I don’t want to mention. The

best bosses I had were female. They seemed to understand me and our customers better and

always saw things that no one else did. They were compassionate and great leaders who always

spoke up when they felt like something needed to be said. These women might never go and run
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the company that they work for, but they changed the quality of the work field in that specific

location and the company benefited greatly from it with more repeating customers and increased

revenue.

Equal pay for women can benefit the economy. Lahle Wolfe in another article from

thebalancecareers.com states “42 percent of women are their families’ sole or primary source of

income and women contribute 43 percent of the gross national product.” Women tend to be the

ones that do a lot of the shopping for their family. If they are paid equal wages to men and didn’t

have to worry about money as much than they might buy more expensive items or more of things

thus by helping the economy. With higher wages for women it would also mean more income

through taxes for the government. America is in a lot of debt and by closing the pay gap and

giving women equal opportunities we could decrease the debt with more tax dollars coming in

and more spending from them. It would benefit America greatly and help women and their

families.

Women’s equal pay and opportunity is not the only issue we face with inequality but is a

good place to start. Not just women today need to take a stand and not allow this inequality to

continue. Everyone needs to take a stand. People need to put stereotypes aside and give women

a chance to show what they are capable of and what qualities they have to add to companies and

the work force. Companies could have new opportunities and increased revenue as they help

give women equality. By ending this gap, we can help women be more financially stable and

help them advance their careers farther. It can help boost the economy and help society as one

move forward towards equality for all. No one should ever be paid less for doing the same job

just because of their gender. Its time to close the gap and move forward into the future of

equality.
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Citations:

IMF, www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/fandd/2017/03/picture.htm.

Laila West (Communications Major, Female), Interview, November 23, 2018

“Lawmaker Says Women Make Less Because They Don't Work As Hard.” ThinkProgress,

ThinkProgress, thinkprogress.org/lawmaker-says-women-make-less-because-they-dont-work-as-

hard-18c8070ee4bd/.

Lebowitz, Shana. “A New Study from Lean In and McKinsey Finds Exactly How Much More

Likely Men Are to Get Promoted than Women.” Business Insider, Business Insider, 1 Oct. 2015,

www.businessinsider.com/women-are-less-likely-to-get-promoted-2015-10.

Paige Wicks (Communications Major, Female), Interview November 23,2018

“Mary T. Barra.” About General Motors | GM.com, www.gm.com/our-

company/leadership/mary-t-barra.html.

“Men vs Women: CEOs in the Fortune 1000.” Information Age, 7 Dec. 2018, www.information-

age.com/men-women-ceos-fortune-1000-123465514/.

Sahadi, Jeanne. “Mary Barra's Early Lesson: Stop Saying Sorry.” CNN, Cable News Network, 11

Oct. 2018, www.cnn.com/2018/10/11/success/mary-barra-gm/index.html.

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“The Simple Truth about the Gender Pay Gap.” AAUW: Empowering Women Since 1881,

www.aauw.org/research/the-simple-truth-about-the-gender-pay-gap/.

Wolfe, Lahle. “Learn Why Equal Pay for Women Would Benefit the U.S. Economy.” The

Balance Careers, The Balance Careers, www.thebalancecareers.com/why-equal-pay-for-women-

would-benefit-the-u-s-economy-3514892.